Garden Tour: Door County Mosaic Art

Bits of broken glass, cast-off metal sheeting, cracked china cups, flea-market gelatin molds and rusty Bundt cake pans aren’t junk to Karin Overbeck. She sees them as potential works of art. A colorful mosaic wall, a whimsical sculpture, a decorative fence. Inevitably, the pieces meld with her sprawling Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, garden. 

More than a decade ago, Karin and her late husband, Mike, began transforming their rocky, wooded property into an elaborate, art-filled garden. The 2 acres feature winding paths, a courtyard, a rock garden, a vegetable garden and flowerbeds overflowing with spires of blue delphiniums, pinwheels of purple clematis and swaths of bright red lilies. A repurposed 1905 schoolhouse on the property serves as the home and workshop.

After her husband passed away, Karin continued to create intricate mosaics inspired by the colors, shapes and textures in her garden. Crafting those pieces became a form of therapy, and her garden and art evolved together.